KUALA LUMPUR: Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was partially granted an application to obtain several documents ahead of the hearing of the US$8bil civil suit filed by 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and its subsidiaries against him and seven others.
High Court Judicial Commissioner Mohamad Redzuan Idrus granted Najib access to five categories of documents, including a complete list of all monies, assets and properties recovered, returned, repatriated or realised, as well as documents detailing the terms and conditions of settlements relating to 1MDB’s financial losses arising from alleged abuse of power and breaches of fiduciary duties.
“In balancing the first defendant’s concerns regarding state confidentiality against the scope of the application, the court adopts a targeted discovery approach.
“The plaintiffs are ordered, within 21 days from the date of this order, to make and serve on the first defendant (Najib) an affidavit stating whether the documents are or have at any time been in their possession, custody or power, and to produce them for inspection and copying.
“However, the discovery order is strictly limited to five documents, in respect of which the plaintiffs have admitted partial possession,” he said.
Mohamad Redzuan further ordered that the documents be disclosed only to the judge or judicial commissioner presiding over the case, court personnel, the parties involved in the suit, and their respective solicitors and counsel.
He also ordered that the documents be treated as strictly confidential, used solely for the proceedings and not made available for public inspection, Bernama reported.
The suit, filed on May 7, 2021, initially named 15 individuals, including Najib, as defendants.
Seven parties were subsequently removed from the lawsuit, namely former chief executive officers Mohd Hazem Abdul Rahman and Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, former directors Tan Sri Che Lodin Wok Kamaruddin, Tan Sri Ismee Ismail, Tan Sri Ong Gim Huat and Ashvin Jethanand Valiram, and former chief financial officer Azmi Tahir.
The remaining defendants are Loo Ai Swan, Tang Keng Chee, Geh Choh Heng, Vincent Beng Huat Koh, Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, Kelvin Tan Kay Jin and Radhi Mohamad.
The US$8bil suit is one of 22 civil suits filed to claim more than US$23bil on behalf of 1MDB and its former subsidiary SRC International Sdn Bhd against several individuals allegedly involved in the financial scandal.
